Top 10 Favorite Companions1) Clara Oswald – 11th & 12th Doctor’s companion
- The Doctor’s current companion also happens to be my favorite. Admittedly she didn’t have much of a character in her first half season thanks to the central mystery around her, but I loved the way that her and the 11th Doctor played off of each other. Her relationship with the 12th Doctor is even better! Watching the ways the Doctor changed her over the course of Series 8 was both thrilling, and a little bit heart breaking as well. Plus it doesn’t hurt that the actress who plays her, Jenna Coleman, is as cute as a button!
2) Ace – 7th Doctor’s companion
- Easily the best companion during the classic run of Who, Ace was different from all the other female companions in that she would face the monsters head on instead of just screaming. (Something which her predecessor was all too good at, as you’ll see in my least favorite 5 list later on.) Also, Ace was one of the few companions on classic who that had a distinct story arc, where you got to see her change and grow during her tenure. Between that, her ball bat, and her tendency to call The Doctor “Professor” and you have an all around appealing companion.
3) Amy Pond & Rory Williams – 11th Doctor’s companions
- Kind of cheating by listing these two together, but you can’t have The Girl Who Waited and the Last Centurion apart, now can you? I loved the feistiness Amy had with The Doctor, plus the scenes where they first meet are just brilliant. (Not going to get more specific as to avoid spoilers.) Rory, on the other hand, may have just been a regular bloke, but one who was absolutely devoted to Amy. While at times it seemed like he just hanged around The Doctor for Amy’s sake, and vice versa on The Doctor’s end, Rory undoubtedly put The Doctor in his place from time to time, and stole the show in the process.
4) Sarah Jane Smith – 3rd & 4th Doctor’s companion, one-off with 10th Doctor
- A lot of people consider Sarah Jane to be there favorite Classic Who companion, and for good reason. While she could sometimes fall under the “screamer” category, she was resourceful enough to get herself out of scraps from time to time. Plus, if you didn’t shed a tear while watching the 10th Doctor episode “School Reunion,” you have no heart!
5) K-9 – 4th Doctor’s companion, one-off with 10th Doctor
- Just a fun robot dog. Do I need more of a reason?
6) Peri Brown – 5th & 6th Doctor’s companion
- A lot of folks just viewed her as the BBC’s desperate attempt to sex up the series to try and boost ratings, and while I didn’t care much for the wardrobe they provided for her, Peri was actually a pretty fun character. She was supposed to be American (a first for The Doctor’s companions), even though you could hear actress Nicola Bryant’s English accent poking through from time to time. Even though the 5th Doctor had just met her in the prior serial, his efforts to rescue her drove much of the plot and action for “The Caves of Androzani,” one of the best Who stories of all time. Still, Peri’s best moments came with 6th Doctor, as she tried to help him to become more compassionate and relatable to others. Also, her exit from the show was shocking, until the show runners lost their guts and explained in a happy ending for her when there should have been one. Still, a fun companion.
7) Mickey Smith – 10th Doctor’s companion
- Even though he was introduced during the 9th Doctor’s run as Rose’s do-nothing boyfriend, Mickey didn’t officially become a companion until he joined The Doctor & Rose aboard the Tardis during Series 2. His character arc of starting out a doofus who deserved to loose his girlfriend, into becoming a hero, was one of the more satisfying aspects of the Russel T. Davies era of New Who.
8) River Song – 11th Doctor’s companion, one-off with the 10th
- “Hello Sweetie.” Anytime you heard or saw those two words, you knew you were in for a fun time, as The Doctor and River played off of each other so excellently. Nobody could fluster The Doctor like River, plus the whole thing where they’re traveling through time in opposite directions just led to a lot of fun scenarios and mysteries.
9) Jamie McCrimmon – 2nd Doctor’s companion
- A Scottish Highlander from 1746, Jamie was just a really fun concept for a character. While it was a little weird at times how little he was phased by technology, the fact that he had a lively relationship with the Doctor, and was a gentleman to any lady who joined them on the Tardis makes him an endearing character for sure.
10) Adelaide Brook – 10th Doctor companion
- A one-off companion in “The Waters of Mars,” she’s one tough cookie. I won’t got too far into why I like her in order to avoid spoilers, but she’s one of the top one-off companions ever, and really does highlight the character of The Doctor at that point in his journeys. Folks that have seen “The Waters of Mars” will know exactly what I mean!
Bottom 5 Least Favorite CompanionsUnlike my above list, which was listed from first on down, I’m going to count this one down, ending with my absolute least favorite companion ever.
5) Donna Noble – 10th Doctor’s companion
-I absolutely despised Catherine Tate’s performance as Donna in “The Runaway Bride” Christmas special, and I was none too thrilled to have her back as the full time companion for Series 4. While she did have a few really excellent moments, I found myself annoyed by her more often than not.
4) Tegan Jovanka – 4th & 5th Doctor’s companion
- Tegan was an unlikable B-word with a capital B. She would constantly bicker and complain to everyone else on the Tardis, and rarely ever showed any redeeming qualities. She described herself best as “just a mouth with legs.”
3) Jo Grant – 3rd Doctor’s companion
- The fact that this companion is more remembered for a nude photo shoot the actress playing her did with a Dalek than her contributions to the show is proof positive as to why she’s in the bottom five. Being sandwiched between Liz Shaw, who was an intelligent companion, and Sarah Jane Smith, one of the greatest companions in Classic Who, makes Jo Grant’s tenure much more forgettable. She did little to help the Doctor out, being more of a damsel in distress most of the time.
2) Melanie “Mel” Bush – 6th & 7th Doctor’s companion
-Remember earlier how I complained about companions who were merely screamers? Mel is case and point for that. They never explained how she and The Doctor met, and her defining characteristics were that she had bright red hair, she wanted the Doctor to exercise, and she screamed a lot. Meh…
1) Adric – 4th & 5th Doctor’s companion
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Spoiler Warning: This will be the only spoilers I discuss in this post.Adric was supposed to be a presented as a character who was brilliant at mathmatics that could be on par with The Doctor in terms of intelligence and problem solving. Problem is, they made the character an obnoxious teenager. Coming off as smug and arrogant instead of having a genius intellect, Adric is one of those characters that makes you ask, “What were they thinking when they created him!” He’s the Wesley Crusher of Doctor Who! It also doesn’t help that the actor playing him wasn’t particularly good. There’s an infamous scene in Castrovalva where he’s captured by The Master, and the way he portrays anguish is so unintentionally homo-erotic that it ruins any tension the scene may have had, turning it comical. His death in Earthshock was incredibly satisfying.
